[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 112th Congress]
[112nd Congress]
[House Document 111-157]
[Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
[Pages 272-282]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
sec. xlv--amendments between the houses
[[Page 273]]
parliamentary course
there are two free conferences, at least, before an adherence. 10 Grey,
147.

Sec. 521. Parliamentary principles as to
disagreeing, insisting, and adhering.

When either House, e.g., the House of
Commons, send a bill to the other, the other may pass it with
amendments. The regular progression in this case is, that the Commons
disagree to the amendment; the Lords insist on it; the Commons insist on
their disagreement; the Lords adhere to their amendment; the Commons
adhere to their disagreement. The term of insisting may be repeated as
often as they choose to keep the question open. But the first adherence
by either renders it necessary for the other to recede or adhere also;
when the matter is usually suffered to fall. 10 Grey, 148. Latterly,
however, there are instances of their having gone to a second adherence.
There must be an absolute conclusion of the subject somewhere, or
otherwise transactions between the Houses would become endless. 3 Hats.,
268, 270. The term of insisting, we are told by Sir John Trevor, was
then (1679) newly introduced into parliamentary usage by the Lords. 7
Grey, 94. It was certainly a happy innovation, as it multiplies the
opportunities of trying modifications which may bring the Houses to a
concurrence. Either House, however, is free to pass over the term of
insisting, and to adhere in the first instance; 10 Grey, 146; but it is
not respectful to the other. In the ordinary

The House and the Senate follow the principles set forth in this
paragraph of the parliamentary law, and sometimes dispose of differences
without resorting to conferences (V, 6165).

Sec. 522. Insisting and adhering in the practice of
the House.

If both Houses insist and neither ask a conference nor recede, the
bill fails (V, 6228). If both Houses adhere, the bill fails (V, 6163,
6313, 6324, 6325) even though the difference may be over a very slight
amendment (V, 6233-6240). In rare instances in Congress there have been
immediate adherences on the first disagreement (V, 6303); but this does
not preclude the granting of the request of the other House for a
conference (V, 6241-6244). Sometimes the House recedes from its
disagreement as to certain amendments and adheres as to others (V,
6229). A House having adhered may at the next stage vote to further
adhere (V, 6251). Sometimes the House has receded from adherence (V,
6252, 6401) or reconsidered its action of adherence (V, 6253), after
which it has agreed to the amendment with or without amendment (V, 6253,
6401).

Sec. 523. Parliamentary law as to receding.

Either House may
recede from its amendment and agree to the bill; or recede from their
disagreement to the amendment, and agree to the same absolutely, or with
an amendment; for here the disagreement and receding destroy one
another, and the subject stands as before the disagreement. Elysnge, 23,
27; 9 Grey, 476.

[[Page 274]]
amendment after the other House had returned it
concurred in with an amendment (V, 6226). However, this has been held
insufficient to pass the bill without further action by the House that
concurred with an amendment (VIII, 3177; June 26, 1984, p. 18733).

Sec. 524. Practice of the House as to receding from its
own amendment to a bill of the other House.

In the practice of the two Houses
of Congress the motion is to recede from the amendment without at the
same time agreeing to the bill, for the bill has already been passed
with the amendment, and receding from the amendment leaves the bill
passed (V, 6312). But where the House has previously concurred in a
Senate amendment with an amendment, the House does not by receding from
its amendment agree to the Senate amendment, because the House may then
(1) concur in the Senate amendment or (2) concur in the Senate amendment
with another amendment (VIII, 3199; Oct. 12, 1977, pp. 33448-54). The
House may not through one motion, however, recede from its amendment
with an amendment (V, 6212; see Sec. 526, infra). A motion in the House
to recede from a House amendment to a Senate amendment, and concur in
the Senate amendment, is divisible (VIII, 3199). One House has receded
from its own

Where one House has receded from an amendment, it may not at a
subsequent stage recall its action in order to form a new basis for a
conference (V, 6251). Sometimes one House has receded from its amendment
although it previously had insisted and asked a conference, which had
been agreed to (V, 6319). After the Senate has amended a House amendment
it is not proper for the House to recede from its amendment directly,
but the Senate may recede from its amendment and then the House recede
from its amendment (Speaker Reed, June 12, 1890, p. 5981). The motion to
recede takes precedence over the motion to insist and ask a conference
(V, 6270).

Sec. 525. Practice of the House as to receding
from disagreement to amendment of the other House.

By receding from its
disagreement to an amendment of the Senate the House does not thereby
agree to it (V, 6215); but the Senate amendment is then open to
amendment precisely as before the original disagreement (V, 6212-6214).
The stage of disagreement having been reached, the motion to recede and
concur takes precedence of the motion to recede and concur with an
amendment (V, 6219-6223; VIII, 3198, 3200, 3202); but a motion to recede
and concur is divisible (VIII, 3199) and being divided and the House
having receded, a motion to amend has precedence of the motion to concur
(V, 6209-6211; VIII, 3198), even after the previous question is ordered
on both motions before being divided (Feb. 12, 1923, p. 3512).

The motion to recede and concur in a Senate amendment with an
amendment takes precedence of a motion to insist further on the House's
disagreement to the Senate amendment (V, 6224; VIII, 3204), and a motion
to lay certain amendments on the table (Speaker Longworth, Jan. 24,
1927, p. 2165). It has been held that after the previous question has
been moved on a motion to adhere, a motion to recede may not be made (V,
6310); and after the previous question is demanded or ordered on a
motion to concur, a motion to amend is not in order (V, 5488); but where
the previous question has been demanded on a motion to insist, a motion
to recede and concur has been admitted (V, 6208, 6321a).
[[Page 275]]
cause they have never assented to it; but they can not amend
their own amendment, because they have, on the question, passed it in
that form. 9 Grey, 363; 10 Grey, 240. In Senate, March 29, 1798. Nor
where one House has adhered to their amendment, and the other agrees
with an amendment, can the first House depart from the form which they
have fixed by an adherence.

Sec. 526. One House not to recede from its own
amendment with an amendment; or depart from form fixed by
adherence.

But the House can not recede from or insist on its own amendment,
with an amendment; for the same reason that it can not send to the other
House an amendment to its own act after it has passed the act. They may
modify an amendment from the other House by ingrafting an amendment on
it, be

In the case of a money bill, the Lord's proposed amendments become, by
delay, confessedly necessary. The Commons, however, refused them as
infringing on their privilege as to money bills; but they offered
themselves to add to the bill a proviso to the same effect, which had no
coherence with the Lords' amendments; and urged that it was an expedient
warranted by precedent, and not unparliamentary in a case become
impracticable, and irremediable in any other way. 3 Hats., 256, 266,
270, 271. But the Lords refused, and the bill was lost. 1 Chand., 288. A
like case, 1 Chand., 311. * * *
[[Page 276]]
In the House it is a recognized principle that the House may not
recede from its own amendments with an amendment (V, 6216-6218). The
House may not amend its own amendment to a Senate amendment to a House
bill (Mar. 16, 1934, p. 4685). However, the stage of disagreement having
been reached on a House amendment to a Senate amendment to a House
proposition, the House may first recede from its amendment and, having
receded, may then concur in the Senate amendment with a different
amendment without violating this paragraph (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 12,
1977, pp. 33448-54).

Sec. 527. Text to which both Houses have agreed
not to be changed.

* * * So the Commons resolved that it is unparliamentary to
strike out, at a conference, anything in a bill which hath been agreed
and passed by both Houses, 6 Grey, 274; 1 Chand., 312.

The practice of the two Houses has confirmed this principle of the
parliamentary law and established the rule that managers of a conference
may not change the text to which both Houses have agreed (V, 6417, 6418,
6420; VIII, 3257; see clause 9 of rule XXII), and neither House, alone,
may empower the managers by instruction to make such a change (V, 6388).
In the earlier practice, when it was necessary to change text already
agreed to, the managers appended a supplementary paragraph to their
report, and this was agreed to by unanimous consent in the two Houses
(V, 6433-6436); or the two Houses agreed to a concurrent resolution
giving the managers the necessary powers (V, 6437-6439; Dec. 17, 1974,
p. 40472). Under the current practice the House considers a conference
report that changes text already agreed to by unanimous consent, under
suspension of the rules, or by report from the Committee on Rules
waiving clause 9 of rule XXII.
To change text finally agreed to by both Houses, each House may adopt
a concurrent resolution directing the Clerk of the House or the
Secretary of the Senate to correct the enrollment.
<> A motion to amend an amendment from the other
House takes precedence of a motion to agree or disagree.
The further principle has been established in practice of the House
that it may not, even by unanimous consent (V, 6179), change in the
slightest particular (V, 6181) the text to which both Houses have agreed
(V, 6180; VIII, 3257). And this prohibition extends, also, to a case
wherein it is proposed to add a new section at the end of a bill that
has passed both Houses (V, 6182).
[[Page 277]]
This is the rule of the House if the stage of disagreement has not
been reached (V, 6164, 6169-71; VIII, 3202), or if the House has receded
from its disagreement to the amendment in question (VIII, 3196, 3197,
3203). The following discussion summarizes the precedence and
consideration of motions to dispose of Senate or House amendments in
contemporary practice.

Sec. 528a. Consideration of Senate or House
amendments.

When Senate amendments are before the House for the first time,
or when the Senate has returned a bill with House amendments to which it
has disagreed (and on which the House has not insisted), no privileged
motion is in order in the House except a motion pursuant to clause 1 of
rule XXII, made by direction of the committee with subject-matter
jurisdiction, to disagree to the Senate amendments or insist on the
House amendment and request or agree to a conference with the Senate
(see Oct. 11, 1984, p. 32308). Other motions to dispose of amendments
between the Houses are not privileged until the stage of disagreement
has been reached on a bill with amendments of the other House (clause 4
of rule XXII; IV, 3149, 3150; VI, 756; VIII, 3185, 3194). The stage of
disagreement is not reached until the House has either disagreed to
Senate amendments or has insisted on its own amendments to a Senate
bill, and has notified the Senate. Further House action can only occur
when the House has received the papers back from the Senate (Sept. 16,
1976, p. 30868).

Before the stage of disagreement, an amendment to a Senate amendment
to a House-passed measure on the Speaker's table is not in order until
an order is entered for consideration of the Senate amendment in the
House (Speaker O'Neill, June 19, 1986, pp. 14638-40).
If the House does agree to consider a bill with Senate amendment
before the stage of disagreement has been reached, by unanimous consent
or special order of business, a motion to amend takes precedence over
the motion to agree. However, the usual practice in such a situation is
to consider a request, either by unanimous consent, suspension of the
rules, or special order of business reported by the Committee on Rules,
simultaneously providing for consideration and disposition of the Senate
amendment (thus precluding the consideration of other requests to
dispose of the amendment (see Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 5)).
It should be noted that a small category of Senate amendments, those
not requiring consideration in the Committee of the Whole, may be taken
from the Speaker's table and disposed of by motion pursuant to clause 2
of rule XXII before the stage of disagreement has been reached, but the
vast majority of legislation does affect the Treasury (as described in
clause 1 of rule XIII) and requires consideration in Committee of the
Whole.
[[Page 278]]
supra; see also the discussion of
adherence in Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 12). A motion to adhere is the
least privileged motion.

Sec. 528b. Precedence of motions before the stage
of disagreement.

Should the House consider Senate amendments before the stage of
disagreement, the precedence of nonprivileged motions is as follows
(disregarding the privileged motion to disagree and send to conference
by direction of the committee): (1) to concur with amendment; (2) to
concur; (3) to disagree and request or agree to a conference; and (4) to
disagree. With respect to consideration of House amendments before the
stage of disagreement, the precedence of motions is (1) to recede; (2)
to insist and request or agree to a conference; and (3) to insist.
Although the House may adhere, adherence is seldom utilized (because it
precludes a conference unless receded from) and is extremely rare on
first disagreement (see Sec. 522,

It was formerly held that a motion to send to conference yielded to
the simple motion to disagree, or to insist (see Cannon's Procedure in
the House of Representatives, p. 120). In current practice, however, the
compound motion to disagree to Senate amendments and request or agree to
a conference, or to insist on House amendments and request or agree to a
conference, has replaced the two-step procedure for getting to
conference and, because it brings the two Houses together, takes
precedence over simple motions to insist or disagree (or to adhere).
Notwithstanding the foregoing precedence of motions, the ordinary
motions applicable to any question that is under debate--to table, to
postpone to a day certain, and to refer--remain available under clause 4
of rule XVI. A motion to table Senate amendments brings the bill to the
table (V, 5424, 6201-6203; Sept. 28, 1978, p. 32334). It must also be
noted that before consideration of any motions to dispose of Senate
amendments, the Speaker has the discretionary authority, under clause 2
of rule XIV, to refer such amendments to the appropriate committee, with
or without a time limitation for committee consideration. It has been
held that before the stage of disagreement, the motion to table the
Senate amendment or amendments (V, 6201-6203) or the motion to refer the
Senate amendment or amendments (V, 5301, 6172, 6174) take precedence (in
that order) over motions to amend, agree, or disagree. And if the
previous question has been ordered on another motion to dispose of the
Senate amendment, a motion to refer is in order (V, 5575).

Sec. 528c. Reaching the stage of disagreement.

The House has
reached the stage of disagreement on a bill when it is again in
possession of the papers thereon, having previously disagreed to Senate
amendments or insisted on House amendments (with or without requesting
or agreeing to a conference). Only previous insistence or disagreement
by the House itself places the House in disagreement (and not merely
disagreement, insistence, or amendment by the Senate). For example, if
the House has concurred in a Senate amendment to a House bill with an
amendment, insisted on the House amendment and requested a conference,
and the Senate has then concurred in the House amendment with a further
amendment, the matter is privileged for further disposition in the House
because the House has communicated to the Senate its insistence and
request for a conference (Sept. 16, 1976, p. 20868). Of course, if the
Senate has agreed to a House request for a conference, the bill is
committed to conference and motions are not in order for its disposition
until after the conferees have reported (the House may unilaterally
discharge its conferees and consider the bill, if in possession of the
papers, only by unanimous consent, special order, or suspension of the
rules, and not by motion).

[[Page 279]]
the House is in possession of the papers. This
principle applies both where the stage of disagreement is reached
without a conference, and where matters remain in disagreement after
conferees have reported. It is possible, therefore, for motions to be
privileged because the House is in disagreement on the bill, but for the
House to have receded from its disagreement or insistence on a
particular amendment or to have received a new Senate amendment for the
first time. In those cases motions remain privileged, but the precedence
of motions on the amendment in question reverts to the precedence of
motions before the stage of disagreement, as set forth in Sec. 528b,
supra (see discussion below of the effect of the House's receding). The
two Houses having permitted the amendment process to go beyond the
second degree, a motion to concur in a Senate amendment (in the 4th
degree), the stage of disagreement having been reached, is privileged
but is subject to the motion to lay on the table (Mar. 18, 1986, p.
5217).
Once the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill with
amendments, the House remains in the stage of disagreement until the
matter is finally disposed of and motions for its disposition are
privileged whenever
[[Page 280]]
on a motion to concur, the House
having already receded, a motion to recommit with instructions to amend
would be in order (VIII, 2744). Motions to postpone, either to a day
certain or indefinitely, have the lowest privilege with respect to a
Senate amendment after the stage of disagreement has been reached. For
old examples in which the House postponed indefinitely consideration of
Senate amendments, see V, 6199, 6200 (in the latter case the Senate had
adhered). Clause 8(b)(3) of rule XXII makes preferential and separately
debatable a motion to insist on disagreement to a Senate amendment to a
general appropriation bill, if: (1) the Senate amendment has been
reported from conference in disagreement; (2) the original motion to
dispose of the Senate amendment proposes to change existing law; and (3)
the motion to insist is timely offered by the chair of a committee of
jurisdiction or a designee.

Sec. 528d. Precedence of motions after the
stage of disagreement.

Generally, after the stage of disagreement has been reached on a
Senate amendment, the precedence of motions is as follows: (1) to recede
and concur; (2) to recede and concur with an amendment or amendments;
(3) to insist on disagreement and request a (further) conference; (4) to
insist on disagreement; and (5) to adhere. The Chair may examine the
substance of a pending motion to determine the precedence thereof in
relation to another motion, even though in form it may appear
preferential. Thus, a proper motion to concur with an amendment to a
Senate amendment reported from conference in disagreement (the House
having receded) has been offered and voted on before a pending motion
drafted as one to concur with an amendment but in actual effect a motion
to insist on disagreement to the Senate amendment, because simply
reinserting the original House text without change (Deschler-Brown, ch.
31, Sec. 8.12). The ordinary motion to table under clause 4 of rule XVI
may be applied to a Senate amendment but carries the bill to the table.
When applied to a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment, the motion to
table carries to the table only the motion to dispose and not the
amendment or bill (see Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 7.27). With respect
to the motion to refer (or recommit), a simple motion to refer or
recommit only takes precedence over a motion to adhere, after the stage
of disagreement has been reached on the bill. After the previous
question is ordered on a pending motion to dispose of a Senate
amendment, a motion to recommit (pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIX) may
only be offered if it constitutes, in effect, a motion that takes
precedence over the pending motion to dispose of a Senate amendment.
Thus, after the stage of disagreement has been reached on a Senate
amendment, a motion to recommit with instructions to report back
forthwith with an amendment may not be offered after the previous
question has been ordered on a motion to recede and concur, a motion of
higher privilege (see Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 7.5). However, after
the House has receded from disagreement to a Senate amendment, a motion
to amend is preferential over a motion to agree, and thus after the
previous question is ordered

Where the matter in question is a House amendment or amendments after
the stage of disagreement has been reached, the precedence of motions is
(1) to recede; (2) to further insist on the amendment and request a
(further) conference; and (3) to adhere. For discussion of possible
options of the House, having receded from its amendment or amendments,
see Sec. 524, supra, and Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 7. If the House
recedes from its amendment to a Senate bill, the bill is passed unless
otherwise specified. If the House recedes from its amendment to a Senate
amendment, the bill is not passed unless the House takes another step,
either to concur in the Senate amendment or amend it. The House having
receded from its amendment to a Senate amendment, it is no longer in
disagreement on the amendment (although it is on the bill if the stage
of disagreement has previously been reached), and the motion to amend
the Senate amendment takes precedence over the motion to concur therein.
Until the House recedes, however, a motion to recede from the House
amendment and concur in the Senate amendment is preferential. A
conference report held to violate clause 9 of rule XXII was vitiated,
after which a privileged motion to recede and concur in a Senate
amendment with an amendment incorporating by reference the text of an
introduced House bill was offered (Nov. 14, 2002, p. 22409).
[[Page 281]]
ments between the Houses (and
which is divided equally between the majority and minority floor
managers with respect to amendments reported from conference in
disagreement under clause 7(b) of rule XXII). Recognition to offer a
preferential motion goes to the senior committee member seeking the
floor who is not the offeror of a displaced motion of lesser privilege
(Nov. 16, 1989, p. 29565). Although the manager of a conference report
is entitled to prior recognition to offer motions to dispose of
amendments in disagreement, the manager should not be entitled to offer
two motions, one preferential to the other, to be pending at the same
time. However, where the manager's first motion to insist on
disagreement has been superseded by the House's voting to recede from
disagreement, then the initial motion is no longer pending; and the
manager may be recognized to offer another motion to concur with an
amendment, which would be preferential to the remaining portion of
another Member's divided motion to concur (Deschler-Brown, ch 32,
Sec. 8.2). This is to be contrasted with the situation in which the bill
manager offers a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment that is
rejected by the House, in which case recognition to offer a subsequent
motion to dispose of the pending Senate amendment shifts to another
Member who led the opposition to the rejected motion (see Sec. 954,
infra).
The same principle as to the precedence of motions after a division of
the question applies to a motion to recede and concur in a Senate
amendment, the stage of disagreement having been reached. Although the
motion to recede and concur takes precedence over the motion to recede
and concur with an amendment, the former motion may be divided on the
demand of any Member and each portion may be separately debatable (Oct.
5, 1978, 33698-701). If the House agrees to recede, a motion to concur
with an amendment then takes precedence over the motion to concur, is
considered as pending if part of the original motion, and is voted on
first (Sept. 30, 1988, pp. 27265-74; Oct. 11, 1989, p. 24097). As
indicated in Deschler-Brown, ch. 32, Sec. 8.2, a Member offering a
preferential motion does not thereby gain control of the debate, which
remains in the control of the floor manager recognized to offer the
original motion to dispose of amend
[[Page 282]]
become
the text of the bill, and if an amendment to it be moved an amendment to
that amendment may also be moved, as being only in the 2d degree.

Sec. 529. Degree of amendments between the
Houses.

A bill originating in one House is passed by the other with an
amendment. The originating House agrees to their amendment with an
amendment. The other may agree to their amendment with an amendment,
that being only in the 2d and not the 3d degree; for, as to the amending
House, the first amendment with which they passed the bill is a part of
its text. It is the only text they have agreed to. The amendment to that
text by the originating House therefore is only in the 1st degree, and
the amendment to that again by the amending House is only in the 2d, to
wit, an amendment to an amendment, and so admissible. Just so, when, on
a bill from the originating House, the other, at its second reading,
makes an amendment; on the third reading this amendment is

This principle is followed in the practice of the House (V, 6176-
6178). For a discussion of the attitude of the Senate on this topic, see
October 31, 1991 (p. 29494).